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Schools

Garden City School Board Unanimously Adopts 2012-13 Budget

Approval of the $104 million proposed budget comes after some newly presented adjustments.

The Garden City Board of Education unanimously voted in favor of adopting Superintendent Robert Feirsen’s newly adjusted budget for the 2012-13 school year at Tuesday evening's board meeting. 

The $104,215,528 adopted budget presented Tuesday night differs from the original proposed budget of $104,976,751. The new budget-to-budget increase is now at 3.06 percent (down from 3.82 percent) with the projected tax levy increase standing at 3.54 percent (It had been 4.25 percent). The maximum allowable tax levy increase the district is entitled to under New York Gov. Cuomo's new tax cap law is  4.2 percent.

“We are well within the tax levy limit,” Feirsen stated regarding the newly presented budget plans. “Tonight is our last real budget development session, by the end of the evening we would expect that the board adopts the budget.”

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The budget, which was adopted unanimously by all members of the board, aims to minimally impact programs. Since the start of the 2012-13 budget development process, which included workshops and presentations, Feirsen said the administration and board members have worked hard to create a “ balanced budget.” 

The final proposed budget has minimal reductions and one important restoration. The adopted budget includes reductions of $61,419 in debt services, the result of favorable interest rates, and $10,000 in classroom furniture allocation. It also eliminates strength and conditioning programs in athletics, a savings of $9,804. 

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With the negotiation of the Garden City Teachers’ Association (GCTA) contracts, the district is saving money in salaries - $569,296 for general education teachers and $110,704 for special education teachers. 

Feirsen suggested using some of the money saved to reinstate a $130,000 proposal to purchase one bus or two vans, an idea that the board members in general saw to be beneficial because they were worried about keeping the school district's fleet in good condition.

Feirsen also discussed the impact of the 2009 school investment bond on the 2012-13 budget.

 “Without the bond, the budget-to-budget increase would decrease from 3.06 percent to 1.95 percent and the tax increase would decrease from 3.54 percent to 2.30 percent,” he said. 

Even though some adjustments have been made to the budget, the same principles still apply. According to the presentation, the adopted budget includes no building closures, maintains class sizes, retains special programs such as FLES and Quest and preserves most co-curricular/athletics programs.

The adopted budget also does not contemplate changes in current bus transportation and retains funds needed for staff development, among other preservations. More information, and copies of all the budget workshop presentations are available on the district’s Web site

The next Board of Education Budget Work Session and Budget Hearing will be held on May 8 at 8:15 p.m. at Garden City High School. 

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